The CPC Central Committee headed by Chairman Mao
Zedong paid much attention to Tibetan education. Even on the
eve of the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, it worked
out a special policy to help Tibet develop its economy,
culture and education. In October 1950, Qamdo won
liberation, and in March 1951 the Qamdo Primary School was
set up, the first to introduce modern education in Tibetan
history.
On May 23, 1951, the Central
Government of the People's Republic of China and the local
government of Tibet signed the 17-article Agreement on the
Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. Article 9 of the agreement
stipulated: "The spoken and written language and school
education fo the Tibetan nationality shall be developed step
by step in accordance with the actual conditions in
Tibet." In August 1952, the Lhasa Primary School was
set up with Zhang Guohua, then commander of the PLA Tibetan
Military Region, serving as its board chairman and honorary
headmaster. Chijiang Lobsang Yexei, assistant sutra teacher
of the Dalai Lama, was its headmaster. This was followed by
the establishment of a group of new-type primary schools in
Xigaze, Chagyab, Bome, Nyingchi and Ngari. In April 1956,
the Preparatory Committee for the Founding of the Tibet
Autonomous Region was eatablished. Under it was the Cultural
Education Department in charge of educational work for the
whole of Tibet. This marked an end to the past history when
Tibet had no specialized educational adminstrative organ.
September 1956 saw the establishment of the Lhasa Middle
School, the first of its kind in Tibet. By June 1957, there
were 98 public primary schools with 6,360 pupils and one
junior middle school in Tibet. In addition, two middle
school classes were set up in a primary school, with a total
enrollment of 700 students.
In the second half
of 1957, following Central Government instruction to
readjust, consolidate and enhance the equality of the school
education, the 98 primary schools were reduced to 13 with
relatively better conditions and 3,460
pupils.
This period of time saw the
co-existence of the old and new political powers, two
military forces and two educational systems in Tibet.
Separatists in the upper echelon of the ruling class who
hated to see the promotion of education in Tibet asserted
that "Tibet was in short of labor power; children going
to school would interfere with production" and
"lead to the reduction of the number of lamas."
They spread rumors to undermine school education, and even
beat those who continued to go to school. As a result, the
faculty with the Lhasa Primary School had to escort all
students to and from school every day.
All the
new schools were financed by the Central Government. All
students enjoyed scholarship. Orphans who had formerly
wandered the streets were arranged to live in the school
dorm. There was no age limitation nor basic educational
requirement, with the eldest pupil aged 50 and the youngest
12. They came from noble, official or business families.
Some were serfs or servants sent by lamas and nobles to
study in place of their children.
During this
period, the newly created people's education undertakings
were consolidated and developed under the extremely
difficult and complicated conditions largely because of the
introduction of a policy suitable to Tibet's situation, and
new management and teaching methods utterly different from
the old ones. Many pupils who originally studied in private
schools transferred to the new public schools, and those
learning in foreign countries returned.
During
the time when the Tibetan people's education was being
established, the Central Government had all along given
priority to nurturing Tibetan cadres. For this purpose,
various cadre training courses were held in Lhasa and
elsewhere. Before long, the Tibetan Cadre College, the
Xianyan Public College, and the Tibetan Communist Youth
League School were set up. They trained about 10,000 cadres
of Tibetan and other ethnic groups, greatly promoting the
development of work in all circles.
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